


Winter Wonderland

by Earlgreyer



Series: The Twelve Days of Fever [7]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: M/M, Swearing, brief nudity, men kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 17:19:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9133795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Earlgreyer/pseuds/Earlgreyer
Summary: Snow Day at Skyhold!  Fluff and snow.  This takes place the day after Satinalia Homecoming.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Part Seven of The Twelve Days of Fever!

Carver drifted towards wakefulness, feeling warm and rested. They’d unexpectedly made it back to Skyhold last night, and he was in his own bed, with Felix tucked snugly against him. Carver watched him sleep for a bit, fighting the urge to tuck a stray lock of hair behind his perfectly adorable ear. Felix stirred and pressed back against him. Carver tightened his embrace and nuzzle into his hair. “Morning, sweetheart.” Felix looked over his shoulder and smiled sleepily at him, and Carver couldn’t help but catch his breath. They’d never actually woken up together after spending the night in the same bed. “Fee, you even look beautiful first thing in the morning. That’s really your magical talent isn’t it?”

Felix stretched languidly and settled back against him, idly caressing the soft hair on Carver’s arms. “Thank you, darling. And yes, you’ve found me out. But don’t tell Dorian you know, or he’ll claim it’s magic he invented.” He squinted out the window and looked back at Carver. “And I believe it’s early afternoon, if I’m judging the sun’s position properly.” There was lots of shrieking and laughter echoing from outside and Felix looked to Carver again, grinning at the happy sounds. “Does this normally go on? How do you sleep?”

“Well, normally I’m awake by now so I don’t notice the noise, I guess.” He squeezed Felix and bent to kiss his shoulder. “But something’s going on. That’s not the normal level of daily sounds.” 

Felix grinned as another burst of shouting and laughter reached them. “Well, I’m going to see what’s going on.” He threw the covers back and bounded out of bed. Carver slowly sat up and propped the pillows behind him, ogling Felix’s perfect backside as he bent over to grab the discarded dressing gown from the floor. He wrap it tightly around himself before padding across the room to the balcony doors. 

Carver liked seeing Felix in his robe, as much as he liked seeing him in his room. _Our room now_. Felix looked relaxed and at home, and it made Carver’s heart beat a little faster. “Fee, you aren’t going to be able to see much. You have to be on the balcony and crane your neck around a bit to see into the courtyards.” 

Felix reached for the door handle and froze. “Carver! Come look!” Carver rubbed his eyes and swung his legs over the side of the bed with a groan. He felt sore and sluggish from weeks on the road, and couldn’t make himself move faster. “Carver!” 

Carver chuckled at his urgings. “Alright, sweetheart, I’m coming.” He pushed himself upright, shuffled across the room, thankful for the thick carpeting under his bare feet, and slipped his arms around Felix’s waist, peering over his shoulder. “What is so fascinating that you’ve pulled me out of our nice warm bed?” He kissed Felix’s temple and looked out the window.

“That!” Felix was pointing at snow. Lots of snow.

Carver teasingly nudged Felix’s side. “Sweetheart, you know we’re in the Frostbacks, right? It snows all the time.”

“But, look how much there is! There’s at least a foot of it on the balcony railing and probably more on the ground!” Carver could feel him vibrating with excitement.

“Fee, it’s snowed like this before. It’s typical of the weather that blows in from the mountains this time of year.” He was amused that Felix would be so excited about it. Then realization dawned. _Felix wasn’t with the Inquisition last winter._ “You haven’t seen this much snow at one time, have you?” Felix shook his head, staring entranced at the sparkly powder. “Okay, that’s it. I declare an official snow day.” Carver turned him around and chuckled as Felix blushed and took in his appearance. 

“Darling, you’re naked.” Felix couldn’t manage to keep the grin from his face.

“Yes, well, someone is wearing my robe, but insisted that I immediately come see the snow, so there was no time for dressing.” He kissed Felix’s nose and looked outside again. “You can’t go back to your rooms now. We don’t know if the walkways and steps have been cleared yet. But _we_ are going outside to play. You can borrow some of my clothes.” 

Felix’s eyes sparkled and his grin was infectious. “Play? The Inquisitor is taking the day off and going outside to play in the snow?” 

Carver headed to the wardrobe and began pulling out his warmest items, tossing them on the bed. “Yes. And if you don’t hurry, maybe you won’t get to come with me.” Felix laughed and moved to begin dressing. They each put on multiple layers of linen and wool, with heavy socks to keep their feet warm. Boots came next, then coats, gloves and caps. Carver held out his hand. “Ready?”

Felix nodded, eager anticipation clearly on his face. He took Carver’s hand and they went down the stairs into the main hall, and quickly stopped short. The hall was overflowing with people. “It seemed that no one is doing much work today.” He looked at Felix, and grinned, practically pulling him through the throng, and out the front doors of the keep. 

The temperature was brisk, and the sky was dotted with big puffy clouds. The sunshine reflected brilliantly off the snow, making it glisten like a million candles, almost blindingly bright. There was an intense snowball fight in progress, and Carver watched the volleys, remembering the snowball battles he and his siblings used to have back on the farm in Lothering. Something slammed into his arm, and the laughing and shrieking of the children came to an abrupt halt. Carver’s head snapped up, immediately looking for the culprit, and every child in the courtyard stared at him in abject horror. He looked down at his cloak and back at the group of children. Felix put a hand on his arm. “Carver, they were just playing. It’s alright.”

Carver scowled and bellowed, “That’s it! This is war!” He lept over the side of the steps and hid behind a row of bushes, quickly smashing together a snowball and popping up to hurl it at the nearest child. He purposely missed and winked at the boy who tentatively grinned back, still unsure what was happening. Carver glanced up at Felix and shouted, “Felix, I need reinforcements! We’re under attack!” 

He threw another snowball at a different child, and finally one of the girls caught on that the Inquisitor wasn’t angry, he was playing with them. She threw a snowball at Carver and shouted, “We’re under attack by the grownups!” 

Felix was pelted by a few snowballs and quickly moved down the stairs and behind the hedge where Carver was stockpiling snow. He handed a snowball to Felix. “Here, protect us!”

“Oi! Inky! Need some help?” Carver glanced in the direction of the voice. Sera leaned out her window scooping up a handful of snow. She laughed and looked to Felix. “He’s a bit shite at aiming, i’n he? Couldn’t hit the side of a barn, that one.” 

“Thanks Sera, but I think I have this covered!” Carver grinned and lobbed another snowball. He didn’t want the children to think they were ganging up on them.

“Sera, don’t listen to him! We definitely need your help!” Felix whipped a snowball at one of the bigger children, hitting him in the hip.

“Course you do, ya pair o’ hoity-toity fancy-pantses. No idea how to throw a proper snowball. Hang on, I’ll save your arses!” Sera hurled a snowball and smacked a girl right in the upper back. Without hesitating the child spun, whipped a snowball back at Sera, landing in the middle of her chest. “Oi!” The girl put her hands on her hips and gave Sera a defiant look. “Good shot, that! Nice arm! Got me right in the ditties!” They beamed at each other and both turned to attack other targets. 

The battle raged for another fifteen minutes, until most of the snow in that part of the courtyard had been trampled or made into snowballs. There was a call for mutual ceasefire, and the battle declared a tie. Carver grinned as he dusted off his cloak and waved the children towards the kitchen. “OK, off with you. Tell cook that I said you all are to have a cup of hot cocoa. That’s the proper ration after a snowy battle.” He turned and looked up at Sera. “Thanks for the assist Sera. You save us.”

“Course I did. Always gotta cover your arses, don’t I?” She grinned and flipped them off, heading back inside, shutting her window with a loud thud.

Carver gathered Felix into his arms and kissed him quickly. “So, Fee, Shall we see what else we can get up to? Or are you too cold?” 

Felix was grinning from ear to ear. “Not cold at all. Especially right now.” He snuggled against Carver. “Well, maybe my nose and cheeks. But the rest of me is warm. What’s next?”

“We continue with our snowy adventure, of course! Come with me.” Carver took Felix’s hand and they carefully picked their way down the stone steps into the lower courtyard. 

Felix watched as Carver made a snowball, added even more snow then tossed it into an untouched snowdrift. He rolled the mound through the drift, adding volume, shaping it with his hands so it formed a very large globe. “We need the bottom one to be really big so it can support the weight of the others.”

Felix laughed and shook his head. “Carver, what are we doing?”

Carver looked over his shoulder and caught Felix checking out his backside. He waited, watching until their eyes finally met. Felix blushed redder than his cheeks had already been. “Like the view, Fee?”

“Very much so. Probably the best view of the day.” Felix waded through the snow towards him and as Carver stood up, he slipped his arms around his waist, kissing him softly. “I’m having a marvelous time, darling. This is fun.”

Carver returned the kiss, lingering a bit after Felix would have ended it. “I’m glad we have some time together, where I don’t have to rush off to a meeting or head out somewhere.” He looked up at the darkening clouds and gave Felix a final squeeze before he returned to his task. “Here, keep rolling this around until it’s about double in size. I’ll start the other one. We should try to get this done before the sky opens up again and we get dumped on.” He watched Felix for a minute, doing a little ogling of his own, before beginning a second sphere. 

They finished at about the same time, and Carver placed his section on top of Felix’s. “OK, we need one more, smaller than the second one by about half. Why don’t you do that and I’ll find the rest of what we need?” Felix nodded and went to work while Carver wandered off towards a small tree nestled against the far wall. He pulled off two twigs and found three stones about the size of sovereigns, and brought everything back to their creation. Carver placed the third ball of snow on top of the other two, and cemented everything in place with a bit more snow, then added the twigs and stones and stood back. “Ta da! Felix, meet Ser Snowman.” 

Felix laughed and made a sweeping bow. “Good day, Serah.”

The snow started, coming down hard as the wind picked up. Carver pulled Felix close. “I think it’s time to get inside.”

Felix slipped his arms around him and leaned in close. “Thank you, love. This has been a perfect day.”

Carver nuzzled his cheek. “It _has_ been perfect. But any day spent with you is.”

There was loud throat clearing. “While this whole scene is _terribly_ romantic, and your proclamations of _undying_ love are exceedingly touching, might I suggest we adjourn to the great hall? There are quite a few people waiting to celebrate Satinalia, and the festivities can’t begin without the Inquisitor.” Carver looked up through the snowfall to find Dorian staring at them over the wall, huddled under Cullen’s fur ruffed cloak. 

“Shit! I completely forgot that was today. Why didn’t anyone come get us?” He grabbed Felix’s hand and they hurried towards the steps.

“What do you think I’m doing out here in this frigid mess?” Dorian sniffed and then looked at Felix and his features softened. “We wanted to give you some time away from your Inquisitorial duties.” They met Dorian at the top of the steps and the three quickly moved up to the large oak doors of the great hall.

Felix turned to Dorian and hugged him. “It was your doing, wasn’t it? Thank you.”

Dorian blushed and tried to appear unmoved by Felix’s words. He waived his gloved hand dismissively. “Well, someone had to give you two a moment alone together. Josephine and Cassandra can be quite single minded. Thankfully Varric was able to distract The Seeker with a few of the newest chapters from his Sword and Shield series, and Leliana had a word with Josephine.” 

Carver pulled open the door and the hurried inside, moaning in delight at the immediate warmth. Servants appeared quickly to take their coats and gloves. Dorian possessively held onto Cullen’s cloak, and made a sweeping gesture towards the Inquisitor’s table near the throne. “Shall we?” The three walked the length of the hall squeezing through the small space between tables. Carver stopped every now and then to greet someone, or ask how they were faring, and was truly thankful that no one seemed upset that they’d kept everyone waiting. 

He was a bit choked up at Josie’s thoughtfulness as he escorted Felix to the waiting empty seat to the left of the Inquisitor chair. He softly kissed Felix’s cheek before pushing in his chair for him, and moving to stand in front of his own. Felix blushed and looked across the table to Dorian, who had taken his own seat next to Cullen. They exchanged smiles and Dorian whispered something to Cullen which made the Commander blush. 

Carver looked around the hall and cleared his throat. The room grew quiet as conversations stopped and everyone looked to him expectantly. “My friends, it’s been an incredibly tough year. There are many beloved faces who aren’t with us tonight to celebrate Satinalia.” He thought of Bethany, and Garrett, and his other friends from Kirkwall and Haven. “But _we_ are here, together, and we hold them in our thoughts and hearts.” He raised his glass. “To those we love, no matter where they are.” The room echoed his sentiment and everyone drank. Carver smiled broadly, “Let’s eat!” A cheer went up through the room and he sat back down. Felix reached out to take his hand, and squeezed it briefly. It felt very comforting and Carver lifted his hand and kissed his knuckles, letting his lips linger a bit longer than necessary. They exchanged a smile and then food was being placed in front of them. 

The meal passed with an odd mix of stories about past Satinalia celebrations, or adventures of the season. The wine flowed freely and most everyone was feeling rather fuzzy and warm as the evening progressed. About an hour after dessert had been served Carver took Felix’s hand and stood, slipping away from the table towards his room. A servant met them at the door and handed him a steaming pitcher of something, and two mugs. Carver thanked them and he and Felix slipped out of the hall undetected, quickly shutting the door behind them. 

“Hopefully it will take them a while to notice we’re gone.” Carver grinned and motioned with his head towards the steps. “Shall we?” He followed Felix through the second door and up the stairs, and as they crested the final step Felix stopped and looked around the room, mouth open. Carver stepped up behind him and grinned. “Someone moved you in. Good.” 

Felix’s belongings were neatly placed around the room, as if someone knew exactly where they belonged. “Dorian. It must have been Dorian.” Felix wandered through the room, touching his things. 

He wasn’t saying anything and Carver was beginning to worry that something was wrong. “Alright, sweetheart?”

Felix turned to look at him with the sweetest smile on his face. “Yes. Everything is perfect.”

Carver set the pitcher and mugs on a low table near the fire in the hearth and motioned for Felix to join him. “Perfect? You’re giving me a lot to live up to.” Felix caressed his cheek and Carver turned his head to quickly kiss his palm. They sat close in front of the fire and Carver poured them steaming mugs from the pitcher, handing one to Felix. “I thought hot cocoa in front of the fire might be a nice way to end our day.” 

Felix took the mug and leaned against Carver to kiss his cheek. “You’re very sweet, darling. This is a wonderful ending to a special day.”

“A special day for someone who is very special to me. I love you, Fee. Happy Satinalia.” 

Carver kissed him, slowly and softly and Felix sighed contentedly. “I love you too, my darling. Happy Satinalia.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and if you liked it please let me know!


End file.
